In her blog post, Getting Hired, Gael Hannan talks about the importance of disclosing hearing loss in a job interview.
This took me back to my university days. I showed up for my first day of work at a summer job, where I would be a chambermaid at a Bed and Breakfast. A main appeal of the job (to me) was the fact that I would live at the B&B and take in the view of the Halifax harbour on a daily basis.
The owner began my training by showing me the phone system.
Uh-oh.
With severe to profound hearing loss, (in the days before my cochlear implant), communicating on the phone was stressful for me.
Phone conversations at the B&B had potential to be very stressful. Names and dates would be vitally important—but they have no context and are hard to hear on the telephone. Bluffing would not be allowed!
And so my first day of work was my last. According to the owner, answering the phone was a must for all staff members. I wasn’t interested in trying to make it work by ordering a phone amplifier and other gizmos for their phones—I knew I’d freeze every time the phone rang, and the job would be a miserable one for me.
If I had mentioned my hearing loss in the interview, it would have saved us both some grief. All of the sudden, I had no job, and no place to live, for the summer. I had to find a place to sleep that night, and re-evaluate my summer plans.
Since then, I take a different view of disclosing hearing loss. If my hearing loss is going to be a “problem,” in any sense of the word, I want to know ahead of time.
I once asked a friend how I came across when I did not tell strangers about my hearing loss in a casual conversation that we were having. I could not follow the conversation, and I felt left out. She said I came across as uninterested and stand-offish. This is not me.
So now I tell people far more often.
What about you? Have you ever gotten in trouble by not disclosing? What are the dangers of not telling others?
Related post: Reminding Others About Your Hearing Loss